


Inconveniently Charged

by OldTsuki



Series: Inconveniently [7]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angry Alice Cooper, F/M, Post-Season 2, Protective FP, Riverdale is totally going to judge Betty, Serpent Betty, Summer Nights, Summer Vacation, Trespassing, serpent Jughead, southside serpents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-21 06:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14909993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldTsuki/pseuds/OldTsuki
Summary: During a late night walk, Betty and Jughead are arrested by the Riverdale Police Department. Needless to say, their single parents aren't happy about the situation. Betty does a fair bit of introspection after they're officially charged.Part 7 of "Inconveniently", written for the Southside Showcase. Prompt: Pickens Park.





	Inconveniently Charged

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure: in real life, I am totally a season 1 Betty Cooper good girl, and I have never gotten in trouble in my life. I had to ask hubs about the time he got a misdemeanor as a teenager to research this story. A quick and dirty Google says that you can, in fact, be arrested for trespassing. 
> 
> And oh my, I can't believe we're nearing the end of this week. Thank you for reading, feel free to check the other stories in this series if you enjoy (they kind of go together, but they can all stand alone too I think).

It was just quicker to cut through Pickens Park, walking from Pop’s to Main Street (and the Northside). That was all--they could have walked around, but it wasn’t like there were any fences or gates locking them out after sunset. Betty and Jughead had walked through that park a million times. Before he’d claimed the motorcycle his dad tinkered with outside the trailer as his own, they’d done it more often. That night, they were just short on gas money and Betty needed to bring in the mail before the post office stopped shoving new letters into the overstuffed box at her parents' house. 

It was late June, and the air was so thick with heat that it felt like a chore to breathe. Betty’s hair, usually immaculate in her ponytail, was wisping up in little curls due to the unusually humid summer evening. She wasn’t sure how Jughead could possibly wear his beanie and leather jacket when it felt like they were walking through a swamp, but he seemed to be managing it well enough. Maybe the lifetime of milkshakes at Pop’s had cooled his internal temperature enough to keep him from getting heat stroke.

She was holding his right hand with her left, though even those small centimeters of skin on skin felt as if he were transferring his body heat in an evil scheme to broil her to death. Fanning herself with her other hand, even though she knew scientifically that it would only make her hotter, she strained for the psychological comfort of a breeze--even an artificial one.

At least she’d dressed properly for the evening. Wearing a corseted top that left a few inches of her stomach exposed and shorts that were short enough to effortlessly display her new tattoo, if she put on anything skimpier she’d have to be wearing a swimsuit. Still, her body was glistening with sweat.

They were talking quietly about their plans for the following day--with the fourth of July coming up, both were expected to do a few things during Riverdale’s annual festival. Betty was supposed to be acting as the MC of the variety show, introducing Josie and the Pussycats, Archie, and the other performers that had volunteered to participate. Jughead’s tasks were decidedly based in a more personal agenda, as he planned to make the Serpents as visible as possible in an effort to demonstrate to Riverdale--and Hiram Lodge--that they had not been disbanded, after all. Betty was seriously debating giving her introductions in her very own brand new leather jacket--but if this heat wasn’t going to let up, then she didn’t even want to look at it until autumn.

Her mom was meant to return from the Farm soon, or so Betty assumed based on Polly’s text messages. She was hoping that her mom would be back in time for the festivities, since the Riverdale Register would be expected to cover the event. If not, she would have to convince Veronica to be her deputy photographer and write up the story herself for their webpage. Since her dad’s incarceration, Betty and her mother had virtually given up on tangible print. 

Jughead jarred her from her thoughts by tugging her toward the little gazebo in the middle of the park. In the twilight, it was standing out as a dark silhouette against the final fading colors of the sunset in the navy sky. She followed, allowing him to spin her toward him and wrap an arm around the small of her back. He kissed her as he pulled her body against his, smiling against her lips. 

“Just wanted to do that all through dinner,” he said when they parted, grinning at her. “Sorry, couldn’t wait until we got to your house.”

She opened her mouth to reply when a flash of red and blue caught her attention. Betty looked over automatically, her eyes picking the police cruiser out on 2nd Avenue effortlessly. A creature of journalistic habit, she glanced to the front and back of the car to see why the officer had turned on his lights. 

She frowned as she saw that there was nothing, seeing a dark figure making its way into the park. Jughead let go of her and looked over his shoulder, too. “Jug--” Betty started to say.

The words caught in her throat as the officer shined a flashlight at them, capturing both in its beam. 

“Remain where you are,” he instructed fiercely, in a tone that left no room for argument.

Jughead raised his hands immediately, his body stiffening, and Betty was reminded uncomfortably that he’d been arrested before. She wondered if the officer would run Jug’s record and come up with his stint in juvie, or the charges that had been raised and dropped against him. Would they be hard on him because of his record?

With her close friendship to Kevin and her semi-friendly interactions with Sheriff Keller--except, of course, for the brief moment she’d thought he was the Black Hood--Betty had grown up never needing to fear the police. Why should she? She’d never done anything wrong. At least, not until she’d conspired with her mother, boyfriend, and boyfriend’s dad to dispose of a body in the woods and sink the shady man’s car into the river. But forgetting that, absolutely nothing. That was probably why she was much calmer than Jughead, even when the light shone painfully into her eyes.

“Officer, that’s really bright,” she commented, raising one hand to shield her vision.

Still shadowed by the light, the officer reached out and took Jughead’s wrist. “You have the right to remain silent,” he said tersely, twisting his grip so that Jughead’s arm turned behind his back. Betty’s mouth fell slightly open as the officer shouldered his flashlight and slapped a cuff onto Jughead, grasping the other arm in a business-like manner and finishing, “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

Betty stepped forward, frowning. “What? Why are you arresting him? What did he do?”

Jughead didn’t resist, but he looked just as bewildered as Betty felt. When the officer turned toward her, their shock grew exponentially. 

“I didn’t forget about you,” he said. Reaching to the back of his belt, he produced another set of handcuffs. Since Betty wasn’t holding her hands up in the universal sign of surrender, the officer had to reach forward and grasp her hand to apply the first cuff. The metal, when it cinched around her skin, was as cold as ice and just as unforgiving. “You also have the right to remain silent,” he commented dryly. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

Betty let him drag her other arm behind her back, but she said again, “What are you arresting us for? Isn’t that our legal right, you have to tell us?”

The officer clicked off the flashlight and gave her shoulder a little push, directing her toward the waiting police car. Without the light shining in her eyes, she saw that it was Deputy Lewis. He’d known Betty most of her life, of course, since her parents often interviewed the Riverdale officers for information before they put together major stories. But she’d never seen the look of irritation mingled with disappointment that crossed his face today, and certainly never directed toward herself.

Betty looked over at Jughead, who walked along casually next to her. He seemed to wordlessly tell her that struggling wouldn’t do either of them any good as their eyes met briefly. She couldn’t understand why the officer wasn’t answering her, or why Jughead was being so calm. Betty felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest, or maybe like she was going to throw up.

As they reached the edge of the park, Deputy Lewis paused and clicked his flashlight back on. He shone it on a sign that read “ **NO TRESPASSING** : _unauthorized presence during the hours of darkness subject to prosecution for criminal trespassing._ ”

Betty blinked, eyes automatically looking up at the faintly star-studded sky. Of course, it was dark enough now to be considered night. Did this count as an hour of darkness? The ambiguous wording of the sign seemed contestable, if it came down to it. She looked over at Jughead, who appeared resolutely tight-lipped at the evidence of their crime.

“Let’s get you in first, since you’re a veteran at this,” Deputy Lewis sneered, pushing Jughead toward the back seat of the cruiser. Betty felt a wave of outrage turn within her at the treatment he was getting--he’d been released, and he’d never really set fire to anything intentionally. But she thought that saying something now was only going to make the Deputy more annoyed with them, and so she decided just to file away his behavior for a conversation she could have with Sheriff Minetta once this was all cleared up.

Seeing Jughead seated in the back of the car, Deputy Lewis closed the door and turned back to Betty. He took her by the upper arm and led her over to the other door. Before he opened it, he looked her in the face.

“I think you’re throwing away your life, Betty,” he snapped. 

She blinked, completely failing to comprehend what he meant until she saw his eyes flash in the direction of the tattoo below the cutoff of her shorts. Something clicked in her mind at that moment. His expression in the park, his harsh behavior toward Jughead--it was because they were Serpents. Betty hadn’t even realized, and now that she did, she felt all the more indignant about what was happening.

“It’s mine to throw, thanks,” she snapped back, narrowing her eyes. “And all the times I’ve walked through this park after dark have never been a problem until now. I wonder, does your boss know how you’re profiling people? Or is he the one telling you to do it?”

Deputy Lewis yanked the door open and pushed her down, forcing her to climb quickly into the back seat next to Jughead. Before he shut the door, he leaned down and said, “Thank you for admitting you’re a repeat offender. I’ll make sure to put that in my report.”

Jughead looked at her and widened his eyes emotively, pressing his lips together for emphasis. She knew he was wordlessly telling her not to say anything else, but Betty was so angry she felt like yelling at the officer all the way back to the station. The real consequences of the situation were suddenly very real and all too ambiguous for her liking. What exactly did prosecution for criminal trespassing entail? And they were both seventeen--was she going to end up in juvenile detention?

At least the cruiser was air conditioned. As they rode across town, Jughead turned and pressed his knee against hers. It was a little reassuring, she had to admit. Looking over, and keeping her mouth shut, she let her brows rise to ask her silent question. He returned a thoughtful expression, glancing over at the officer, then raised one shoulder. So he wasn’t sure what was going to happen to them, either.

Deputy Lewis led both of them into the station, where he brought them to the holding cell and removed their handcuffs. He gestured toward the bench. “Since you’re minors, you need to wait here until your guardians can collect you.”

Of course, she knew that one of her guardians was occupying a supermax cell in a federal penitentiary, and the other was living in a commune called _The Farm_ , so it was probably going to be a long wait. Betty pressed her lips together again, trapping her words inside. If eyes could melt objects, then Deputy Lewis would be a puddle. 

He walked away, leaving them in one another’s company. Jughead turned to Betty then, looking infinitely apologetic. “Sorry, Betty,” he said quietly. “We should have taken my bike.”

She shook her head, still furious with the whole situation. “No, Jug, it’s not your fault. We did do something wrong, and we did it together,” she said, trying to redirect his blame away from himself. “Do you think your dad can get us both out of here?”

He paled, looking over at the door that Deputy Lewis had departed through. “I’m not sure,” he said hesitantly. “Dad isn’t your legal guardian, Betty. They’ll probably have to call your mom.”

She laughed shortly, without humor. “Right. I guess my dad couldn’t take me out of here, huh?” she asked, trying to joke.

Jughead just looked concerned for her after she said it, not even smiling at her weak attempt to be funny. He sat down on the only bench in the cell and leaned his head back until it touched the bars.

It wasn’t long before FP did turn up, speaking quietly with Deputy Lewis as they entered the room. Both Betty and Jughead stood up as their voices approached. She lingered near the bench, expecting that Jughead was right about the officers keeping her until her mother returned. When FP and Deputy Lewis came through the door, Betty was shocked and minutely relieved to see that they weren’t alone.

Her mother looked over at her with a slightly tired expression, as if she wasn’t surprised to find where her youngest daughter had wound up in her absence. She turned toward the Deputy, interrupting what he was saying to FP.

“How are they being charged?” she demanded, her tone cutting through their talk.

FP met Betty’s eyes with a somewhat apologetic grimace, like he would have warned her if he’d gotten here first. She looked down at the ground, feeling something like shame rise within her from behind those bars.

Deputy Lewis said, “It’s a misdemeanor, nothing too serious.”

Her mom crossed her arms and glared. “A misdemeanor still goes on her record,” she snapped. “Do you realize that these children are going to college soon? Do you have any idea what sort of opportunities you’re taking away from them by doing this?”

Deputy Lewis glanced over at them, his eyes lingering on Betty’s thigh. “I’m just doing my job to keep the town of Riverdale safe, ma’am,” he replied calmly.

"From Betty? You know perfectly well that my daughter hasn't done anything wrong in her life." 

FP added, “Safe? Where were you, keeping the town safe, when my boy was almost beaten to death in the park?” he demanded, gesturing toward Jughead.

Alice took a step forward, poking a finger into Deputy Lewis’s chest. “Listen, Deputy,” she ground out, “This fight between the police department and the Southside Serpents has been going on since before you went to Kindergarten. It’s nothing but profiling, and you damn well know it.”

He narrowed his eyes at her verbal attack. “Again, ma’am, I’m just doing my _duty_ for Riverdale. If you don’t like it, maybe you should keep better control of your kid.”

With that, he turned his back to both parents and unlocked the cell. Betty and Jughead reluctantly stepped out, both warily eying their respective parent and the equal fury etched across their faces. Alice reached out and grabbed Betty’s arm, pulling her toward the door. “We’ll see that this is resolved quickly, Elizabeth,” she said. “Then we’ll have your record expunged.”

She didn’t hear whatever FP said to Jughead, because her mother was dragging her quickly toward their car. Betty slid into the passenger seat, shame still drying the words on her tongue. Reaching out, she gratefully angled the air vent to blast directly onto her face. Her mother put the car in reverse and began to drive across town, fingers clenching and unclenching around the steering wheel. Betty watched her for a moment, letting the air blow on her face, before she managed to whisper, “I’m sorry, mom.”

Alice glanced over, her expression like a mosaic of emotion. In her look, Betty saw the terrified defiance of a young Southside Serpent facing the town after her mugshot was published on the front page of the local newspaper. A Serpent who found out she was pregnant, and alone, and forced to make a difficult choice. A woman who lost, then gained, and lost everything again. Was it disappointment? Pride? Disgust? Anger?

Betty sank back into the seat of the car, looking out the window. She thought about the way that Deputy Lewis had acted so harshly toward them. Even when Jughead wasn’t resisting, and Betty was just asking questions. Was it because he’d seen her tattoo, when he’d brushed the flashlight over them as they stood inside the gazebo? She glanced down at her leg, running her thumb over the ink. Did this somehow make her a criminal, in his eyes?

Her mom pulled into the driveway and parked. Betty realized distantly that her toothbrush, hairbrush, and plenty of clothes were over at the Jones trailer. As her mom got out of the car, she paused before the mailbox. Betty bit her lip as her mom withdrew a huge stack of mail. She kept expecting her mother to say something to her, some comment about Betty being unable to do this one simple thing in her absence, but the words never came. Instead, her mom just led her into the house and dropped the pile of mail on the side table in the entranceway. Once Betty was inside, her mom locked the door and slid over the deadbolt.

She turned to look at her, gave one powerful sniff, then turned away before Betty could see the tears in her eyes.

Her mom made her way into the den, still not saying anything. Looking after her, Betty slowly climbed the stairs and went to her pink princess bedroom. She lay down on her bed, not bothering to move the coverlet, and stared at the ceiling. More than anything else that happened that night, she was the most shaken by her mother’s disappointment. Betty Cooper was not used to letting anyone down.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd imagine that the RPD is going to freak out when Betty Cooper and Cheryl Blossom join the Serpents. Like, specifically Betty, who has cultivated that "good girl next door" image for Riverdale as a result of her mother's intense rejection of her southside past. Poor girl is just starting to understand the complex narwhal of Alice Cooper's life, and where her own choices are leading her.
> 
> Thank you for reading my penultimate installment of this series! Enjoy the next (and last) story!


End file.
